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WABI featured a groundbreaking virtual reality program the �鶹ֱ�� College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM) is using to inspire empathy in its students.

UNE’s “We Are Alfred” program was one of several virtual reality programs to exhibit during the Maine Department of Education’s Virtual Reality Expo on June 19, 2017. The event invited educators from across the state to demo a variety of virtual reality programs and learn how they’re being used in the classroom. Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D., of UNE COM’s Division of Geriatric Medicine, Beth Dyer, M.L.I.S., A.H.I.P., and Barbara Swartzlander, M.S.Ed. M.L.S., from UNE Library Services, facilitated demonstrations of the ‘Alfred’ technology.

When the medical students at UNE use the “We Are Alfred” system, they experience life as a 74 year-old man with macular degeneration and hearing loss. Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D., of UNE COM’s Division of Geriatric Medicine, says UNE is 1 of just 4 medical schools in the country using the technology. “They just get this sense of WOW. I had no idea, and now I know what some of my patients may experience.”

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